That is the worst mug shot I have ever seen.
I have never understood why law enforcement agencies
don't keep better visual records.
You'd think they'd be concerned about little things
Iike making an accurate identification.
The picture is accurate enough
to establish that your customer is Regana Tosh
who is known to be associated
with a Markalian smuggling operation.
Really? Well, everyone is welcome at Quark's.
I don't discriminate.
Just like Starfleet.
They have a nondiscrimination policy, too
don't they, Commander?
I guess we have something in common.
You have more in common
with a Rakonian swamp rat, Quark.
Major. Always a delight to see you here.
What can I get for you?
Tarkalean tea.
But not, not too sweet this time.
Catching up on some work?
Not exactly.
That man arrived on the station
this afternoon and came directly here.
I believe the Ferengi bartender is plotting something with him.
I wouldn't be surprised.
Quark's always up to something.
If he is a known criminal
why does your Security Chief not do anything about him?
Odo keeps him in check.
Yes.
But not in prison.
Medical Officer's Log, Stardate 49066.5.
Chief O'Brien and I have concluded our bio-survey
of Merik Ill in the Gamma Quadrant.
We are on course back to the wormhole
and should arrive at the station two days ahead of schedule.
Keiko only spends a few days at a time on the station.
I'm the one living in those quarters.
And if I want to set up
a little workshop in the bedroom...
You set up a workshop in the bedroom?
Yeah.
Well, I don't use it when she's visiting.
Oh, of course not.
She says I'm trying to live "Iike a bachelor again"
that I'm expressing a "subconscious desire"
to push her out of our quarters.
Now that is ridiculous.
That's what I said.
I mean, if anything
by spending your free time in the bedroom--
a place you intimately associate with Keiko--
you are actually expressing
a desire to be closer to her during her absence.
It's quite touching, really.
Exactly. Exactly!
See, you understand.
Why can't she see that?
Why can't she be more like...
More like...?
Well, a man.
More like a man.
So...
you wish...
Keiko was a man.
I wish I was on this trip with someone else.
That's what I wish.
We're picking up a subspace magneton pulse.
Bearing 090, mark 1 15.
The Bopak system.
What's a magneton pulse?
It's a burst of polarized magnetic energy.
It's usually produced by a damaged warp core.
So there could be a ship in trouble?
Possibly.
Let's take a look.
I'm having trouble pinpointing the source of the plasma surge.
Too much EM interference in the atmosphere
but it's definitely down there somewhere.
According to our records, Bopak Ill is uninhabited.
The nearest Dominion outpost is six weeks away
and this system is well off the established trade routes
in the Gamma Quadrant.
Strange place for a ship
to set down, even if it was having engine trouble.
Of course, it could be an anomalous reading
but I'd feel a lot better if we could...
Hold on.
There's some kind of energy surge on...
Wha-What the hell...?
We've been hit by a plasma field.
We're losing main power.
Switching to auxiliary units.
The field's draining our power.
I can't break free.
We're losing altitude.
Send out a distress call.
I'll try and get us
down in one piece.
And the com system jammed!
I'm reading a clearing up ahead.
I think we can make it.
Hold on.
What a lovely place.
Smells like a garbage dump.
I'm sorry I couldn't find a nicer place to crash-land.
Well, should we try again?
Do not move.
You are prisoners of the Jem'Hadar.
Are there other Starfleet ships with you?
Tell me.
There are no other ships with us, but if we don't return
Starfleet will begin looking for us.
When?
Soon.
You're lying.
No other crew.
Standard Danube-class runabout.
Some modification
to the phaser array and shield generators.
Why were you in this star system?
We picked up a magneton pulse.
We thought there might be a ship
in trouble, so we altered our course...
Return to the ship.
Put a damping field on our warp engine.
Human.
Gold uniform indicates a specialty
in security or engineering.
Rank: Chief Petty Officer.
You are what Starfleet refers to as a "noncom."
That's right.
You must have a great deal of experience.
I've been around.
That makes you a priority target.
We will kill you first.
Human, rank of Lieutenant
with a specialty in the sciences.
Doctor, actually.
Science and medical officers are low-priority targets.
I submit we execute this one
and use the other in a tactical exercise.
No.
Bring them both back to camp.
Move.
We cannot allow him to continue these criminal activities.
I am fully aware of Quark's activities
and I'm conducting a thorough investigation
of his connection with the smuggler.
If you'll excuse me, Captain.
Of course.
I know Odo may do things
a little differently than you're used to
but he really is very good at his job.
I'm not questioning his competence.
How many years were you in security, Commander?
Seven.
Must be a hard habit to break.
I remain vigilant.
And I do encourage vigilance in my officers.
But remember--
Odo is Chief of Security on this station
and you're the Strategic Operations Officer.
Your primary duty
is to coordinate all Starfleet activity
in this sector, not to catch smugglers.
Understood.
I will not let this matter interfere with my duties.
Very well. Dismissed.
Does he look nervous to you?
A bit distracted, yeah.
And at the runabout
they seemed concerned about being found here.
Something's going on.
I'd hate to think
what would make the Jem'Hadar jumpy.
They need a doctor.
Someone's injured or sick.
If that's true, Julian, don't help them.
Anything that weakens them
increases our chances of getting out of here.
Come with me.
He stays.
You will work here.
Where are the patients?
There are no patients.
You are here to carry out scientific research for us.
If you refuse, I will have to kill you.
Do you understand?
And you need to understand that I'm a Starfleet officer
and I won't do any work for you
that might potentially be used against the Federation
or any other race, for that matter.
Now, if that's what you want, you'll have to kill me.
Fortunately for you, weapons research is not what I need.
There is a drug...
that all Jem'Hadar must have in order to live.
We call it ketracel-white.
An isogenic enzyme.
You know about it?
I know that the Jem'Hadar have been genetically engineered
by the Dominion to be addicted to what you call ketracel-white.
And that by controlling the supply of this drug
the Founders maintain control over you.
The Vorta, they are the ones who control the drug.
They are the ones we came here to escape.
Escape?
You're trying to leave the Dominion?
Yes.
You disapprove.
No. I...
I'm just... just surprised.
Surprised because a Jem'Hadar soldier
might want something more than the life of a slave?
You know nothing about the Jem'Hadar
except that you fear us.
But...
you will make our final escape from the Dominion possible.
We have only enough white to last another five days.
And you want me to try and synthesize this drug?
No. We do not want more of the drug.
We want to be free of it--
to break the addiction.
I'm not sure that that's possible.
It is possible.
I know, because I am free of the drug.
No supply tube.
I don't understand.
Your entire genetic structure
was designed to collapse without the ketracel.
Why did you stop taking the drug?
It was not by choice.
Three years ago
I was on a ship that crashed on this world.
The rest of the crew died, and I was left
with only enough white to sustain me for three days.
I rationed my supply and managed
to stretch the drug out for eight days
and then it was gone
and I was ready to die.
But death never came.
I lived here...
for 35 days without a single drop of white.
Being here, on this planet, cured me.
So that's why you returned here--
to cure the rest of your men as well.
But it hasn't worked, has it?
They still need the drug.
We have come to the same place, breathed the same air
eaten the same food-- it should have cured them as well.
That may be oversimplifying the situation.
There may be many factors--
I want you to see this.
Take the pain.
Show Goran'Agar we're still Jem'Hadar.
You did not fall.
Feel pride in that.
As a Federation doctor
I know you are trained to feel sympathy
and compassion for those in pain.
These men are suffering now
but it is nothing compared to what will happen
if they are not freed from the drug
before our supply runs out.
I can't promise anything.
Will you try?
I'll need Chief O'Brien's help.
Yes, I'll try.
Now give those men what they need, please.
Second.
I've told them we have enough white to last 27 days.
That is a lie.
There's only enough to last five days.
You have that long, Doctor.
After that, they will die
but not before they kill me for betraying them
and you for not saving them.
The Klingons have also attacked
three more outposts along the Romulan border.
In short, they're reasserting themselves
all over the Quadrant.
You'd think they'd be a little less aggressive
after failing to conquer Cardassia.
If the invasion was seen
as a failure, Gowron would have been assassinated by now.
He simply declared victory and returned home.
Now he's looking for his next victory.
Bajoran lntelligence
believes the Klingons are searching for weaknesses
in the star systems along their borders.
And when they find an appropriately weak system
they invade.
It's the same old story--
the strong survive, and the weak perish.
We'll save that particular debate for another time.
I want a complete briefing every day
about the Klingon situation.
Dismissed.
May I speak with you a moment?
I assume this is about Quark.
He has made arrangements to acquire a type IV
Tallonian microscanner.
Has he?
The type IV is primarily
used to determine the purity of Tallonian crystals.
Which are illegal anywhere
but on the Tallonian homeworld.
Interesting.
I appreciate you bringing me this information, Commander.
I expect him to be meeting
with the smuggler again this evening.
That would seem likely.
You will arrest him when...
Thank you, Mr. Worf.
Rest assured I'll take care of this matter.
How long until that scanner's ready, Chief?
Uh, about 30 minutes.
I'm having trouble with the transtater interface.
Maybe you should take a look, sir.
The plasma charge will have
an effective range of about 15 meters.
That's pretty close.
Well, it's enough to take care of the guard.
Once he's down, I'll get his weapon.
We run like hell for the runabout.
Good work, Chief.
Keep this up.
You may make a fine officer someday.
Oh. Thank you, Lieutenant.
Coming from you, that means a lot to me.
I know.
Carry on.
What have you found?
Well, uh, so far, nothing I've tested
matches the molecular structure
of the, uh, enzyme receptors in your body
but I did find something promising
in one of the native plants here.
Take a look at this.
Uh, as you can see, there is
a high concentration of chlorophyll in these plants
which you wouldn't expect from a planet orbiting a red giant.
When will you have the cure?
I'm not really sure... yet.
Three days left, Doctor.
What is this?
That is something I put together
to enhance the resolution on that scanner.
Ow!
Stay where you are.
Release him.
I said release him.
Let him go.
You know the penalty for disobedience.
You have a bruised trachea, but there's no permanent damage.
Return him to the holding cell.
He cannot stand.
Heal his wound.
Well, it missed the femoral artery
but the knee joint's been destroyed.
I can give you something for the pain
but I'll need a surgical unit to replace this joint.
He'll have to stay off this leg
until you can get him to a medical facility.
If I cannot stand, I am useless.
You are not going to kill him.
This has nothing to do with you, human.
When I am dead
there will be more white for the rest of the men.
No.
Take him back to the ship.
You know the rule.
If the death of one will make the rest stronger
then he dies.
We came here to be free of the Vorta.
It is time to stop living by their rules.
Get back to work.
Come in.
Do you have it?
Of course.
You are supposed to be watching the Ferengi.
I don't need you to tell me what I'm supposed to be doing.
I saw him inspecting the crystals.
You had an opportunity to arrest him.
I perform my duties as I see fit.
You do not seem to be performing them at all.
Frankly, Commander, I'm not interested in your opinion
of my job performance.
Now I suggest you attend to your own duties
and stop interfering in mine.
Remarkable.
Your body is producing the exact amount
of ketracel-white you need to survive.
But I can't find where it's coming from.
There don't appear to be
any glands or cell clusters producing the enzyme.
Mind you, your entire metabolism defies belief.
The growth rate of the Jem'Hadar children is extraordinary.
You have seen our children?
We found a newborn in the station once.
He was fully grown in three days.
I would like to have seen a group of humans
try to control a Jem'Hadar child.
Well, we couldn't.
All he wanted to do was fight and kill.
If it wasn't for Odo
I don't know what we would have done.
Odo...
is the Founder on your space station.
That's right.
I have never seen a Founder.
Never?
To us, they are almost a myth.
But everyone in the Dominion
even the Vorta, serve the Founders.
I have fought against races that believe in mythical beings
who guide their destinies and await them after death.
They call them gods.
The Founders are like gods to the Jem'Hadar.
But...
our gods never talk to us
and they don't wait for us after death.
They only want us to fight for them
and to die for them.
He's beginning to question everything he's been taught--
blind obedience to the Founders, killing without remorse
and the devaluation of other sentient life-forms.
He's developing his own moral structure.
It's incredible!
Or maybe that's what he wants you to believe.
Think about it, Julian.
What did he say to you?
"Federation doctors are trained
to feel compassion and sympathy."
He's manipulating you!
He wants you to work hard and stop trying to escape.
What about saving the life of the wounded Jem'Hadar?
I saw the look on their faces.
They were shocked at his behavior.
I'm telling you, he's changing.
All right, let's say you're right
and he's turning into a nice guy.
What are you getting at?
I think we should cooperate with him--
help him in what he's doing.
What?!
What makes Goran'Agar different from the others?
He's not addicted to the drug.
Now, if we can get the other Jem'Hadar soldiers off the drug
they may go through a similar change.
And with the Jem'Hadar soldiers thinking for themselves
the Founders may suddenly find themselves
without an army to give orders to.
You're just guessing.
You don't know how the other Jem'Hadar
will react when they're off the drugs.
They may go marauding through the galaxy on their own.
At least now, the Dominion keeps them on a short leash.
They're not animals!
They're people being used as slaves.
And this is their one chance at freedom.
And what are they going to do with that freedom?
Stop being so naive, Julian
and look at them for what they are.
They're killers.
That's all they know how to do
that's all they want to do.
But they have the potential to be so much more.
Goran'Agar has shown them that.
They just need our help.
Well, then they should have asked for our help
instead of shooting us down and threatening to kill us.
But they didn't know why we were coming.
They probably thought we were trying to attack.
I can't believe you're making excuses for them.
I'm trying to make you understand
there are larger issues here.
We're dealing with a complex situation.
No, it is not complex.
It is simple.
Those men out there are Dominion soldiers.
We help them, we may end up
unleashing the Jem'Hadar against the Federation
and that is a risk
I am not willing to take!
So we do not help them.
And that's the end of it.
No, that is not the end of it.
I am the senior officer here
and I have decided what we're going to do.
Now, I need the biospectral phase discriminator
from the runabout's sensor array.
I haven't got the technical skills to remove it
so I'm ordering you to do it.
Now, is that clear?
Yes, sir.
How long will this take?
A few minutes.
Your escape plan was flawed.
Obviously. I got caught.
Even if you had killed the guard
you never would have reached the runabout.
I guess we'll never know that.
I know.
I'm sure you do.
You're not like the other human.
We have our differences.
You don't like helping us.
No, I don't.
Good.
I don't like it, either.
Well, I'm glad we understand each other.
Slowly.
Now, put it down.
Nothing.
I can find nothing in the atmosphere, the soil
the water, the plant or the animal life
that is remotely compatible to your cellular structure
or your DNA.
Maybe you were exposed
to some anomalous conditions four years ago
that no longer exist-- a magnetic storm
solar radiation, volcanic gases.
No.
Everything is as it was four years ago.
The planet is the same.
The conditions are the same!
The answer must be here.
There is no other explanation for what happened to me.
Maybe there is an explanation.
Maybe nothing happened to you on this planet.
Maybe you were never addicted to this drug at all.
But I took white all my life.
But maybe you didn't need it.
It's possible that your DNA structure
underwent a random mutation that...
He's escaped.
How?
Using their ship's transporter.
They planned this together.
Do you know where O'Brien is?
No.
Deploy the men in a standard...
He's lying.
He's been lying for days.
There is no cure here.
Even if there was, he wouldn't give it to you.
There is a cure.
I am the proof.
Now, deploy the men in a standard search pattern.
Find O'Brien and return him to the holding area alive.
Alive?
Are you questioning me?
I knew you once, trusted you, obeyed you without question
but now you're like this human--
weak
soft, inferior.
If being free of white means becoming like you...
I don't want to be cured.
What'll happen to O'Brien?
There is nothing we can do for him.
My men will no longer obey me.
You have to find him first
and keep him alive until I can find a cure.
If I go
there will be no one here to guard you.
I will not try to escape.
I give you my word.
I will do what I can.
I've been saving this for a special occasion.
Tonight certainly qualifies.
How'd you manage to get these out of the Tallonian system?
I have my resources.
A hundred percent pure.
Well worth twice the price I'm asking.
I don't know if I'd go that far.
Trafficking in illegal merchandise
is a felony under Federation law.
What's he doing here?
A very good question.
I was just about to arrest these criminals.
I should arrest you
for interfering in my investigation.
Will someone tell me what is going on here?
Odo, why did you not tell me what you were doing?
I don't report to you, Commander
and I don't spread the word
when I'm conducting an undercover investigation.
I also thought that your surveillance
would make the setup more convincing.
I'm not interested in this man.
He was supposed to complete the transaction
and take the latinum back to his ship
so that I could infiltrate
the entire Markalian smuggling operation.
Now I suppose I'll have to settle for the middleman.
If you gentlemen are finished with this little fiasco
I'd like to tidy up.
Quark!
On your feet. Let's go.
I've lost the signal.
Spread out.
Chief!
Where's the guard?
Everyone's out looking for you.
Good.
Anything else around here we can use as a weapon?
No?
Let's get moving.
It's only 300 meters to the runabout
but those guys move fast.
Chief, I'm not going.
What the hell do you mean, you're not coming?
I'm onto something here.
With a little more time, I think--
I don't care what you think.
This is our one chance to get out of here
and we've got to take it.
And it's also our one chance to break their addiction.
Julian, even if you find a cure
they're going to kill you anyway.
That's not true. Goran'Agar--
Forget about him.
What about all the others?
They're still a bunch of bloodthirsty--
Look, we haven't got enough time to argue about this.
If you want to go, go.
All right.
I will.
But you're coming with me.
There.
You can bring me up on charges when we get back
but there's nothing to keep you here now.
So let's get going.
You did this?
Yes.
I did.
Move... both of you.
This won't--
No discussion!
Move!
There still might be a way
if I had another sample of your blood.
There is no more time.
The supply of white will run out tomorrow.
You caught him.
I shouldn't have doubted you.
Should we kill them ourselves or let the others?
I will do the killing.
Take your ship and go.
Goran'Agar, if you stay here, they'll kill you.
Unless I kill them first.
It would be better for them to die
quickly in battle, than slowly as the drug runs out.
You don't have to do this.
Even if we can't save their lives
there's no need to sacrifice yourself.
You are a soldier?
I have been.
Then you explain.
He's their Commander.
They trusted him.
He can't leave them.
Julian.
Come in.
Captain, there's some information
I would like to add
to Security Chief Odo's last report.
He did not feel it was necessary
to include the details of my involvement, but...
I think you should know that I hindered his investigation.
Yes, I heard what happened.
Please, sit.
Word gets around in a place like this.
It's one of the things you have to get used to.
One of many things, it seems.
Starfleet officers often have trouble
Iearning the unofficial rules of the station.
There's no manual to study.
You have to learn things as you go.
A little different than life on a starship.
When I served aboard the Enterprise
I always knew
who were my allies and who were my enemies.
Let's just say DS9 has more shades of gray
and Quark definitely is a shade of... gray.
He has his own set of rules
and he follows them diligently.
Once you understand them, you understand Quark.
I'd say that's true for... everyone here.
You'll fit in, Commander.
Just give it time.
Kira to Rubicon.
Docking Platform 2 is open.
Welcome back, gentleman.
Thanks, Major.
You can bring me up on charges, you know.
Well, that's not really my style.
I wish things could have been different, Julian.
So do l.
And I'm sorry I had to destroy your work.
You didn't have to, Chief.
You had a choice
and you chose to disobey orders
override my judgment
and condemn those men to death.
Yes, I did...
because I thought it was the only way to save your life.
Whatever else you may think of who I am and what I did
at least try to understand that.
Tonight's supposed to be our weekly darts game.
Don't worry.
I don't feel much like playing either.
Maybe in a few days.

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